Collaborative R&D Project: “Sustainable Aquaculture. Development of recyclable and sustainable plastic products from plastic material recovered from the marine environment.”
The main objective of the COSTAS project is to develop new materials from plastic recovered from the marine environment for use in products related to aquaculture, ensuring that their reuse stays ahead of current legislation.
The new developments made from recycled material must be processable using different conventional transformation technologies, while maintaining their properties and service life.
The project’s partial objectives are as follows:
Research into an optimal methodology that allows the recovery, selection and treatment of plastic material recovered from the sea, as well as waste from the aquaculture sector, taking into account its heterogeneity and different degrees of degradation after spending varying periods of time in the marine environment.
Generation of knowledge about its initial physical and mechanical properties, contaminant content and toxicity, as well as the minimum technical requirements of the products to be obtained.
Treatment and recycling of plastic products recovered from the marine environment.
Production of walkways and access structures for mussel rafts, marine farms and fish farms from recovered plastic, replacing the wood currently used.
Development of plastic materials containing at least 30% material recovered from the marine environment, suitable for manufacturing different products related to the marine sector, such as port protection systems, structural and flotation pipes for mussel rafts, and marker or mooring buoys.
Reuse of plastic products already discarded in fishing activities, such as nets, meshes and PS containers, for use as reinforcement and lightweighting elements in concrete mussel rafts and other products.
The project will be developed over a 48-month period starting in April 2021. It has a total budget of €4,732,493.00 and will be carried out mainly in the regions of the Valencian Community, Galicia and La Rioja, thanks to the joint collaboration of the following six entities:
ACTECO PRODUCTOS Y SERVICIOS, S.L. — Consortium leader
DURPLASTICS, S.A.
ECOPLAS BARBANZA, S.L.
PLASTIRE, S.A.
ROTOGAL, S.L.
SOLTECO MADERA PLÁSTICA, S.L.
These companies will also be supported by two research organisations:
AIMPLAS — Plastics Technology Centre
Spanish Institute of Oceanography
Specifically, the objective of DURPLASTICS, S.A. focuses on the development of a material that can be processed using sheet extrusion technology, incorporating at least 30% recovered material. The aim is to obtain three-layer structures for use in port protection systems, as well as to improve the physical and chemical suitability of the recovered material fraction in order to increase melt strength, processability and eliminate interfacial instability for prototype development and final validation.
This project is part of the funding line for Cooperative Research and Development Projects. It is subsidised by CDTI, supported by the Ministry of Science and Innovation, and co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
